Mekong Delta

Life continues in Vietnam's agrarian heartland much as it has done for centuries. Farmers cultivate paddy fields, tend their orchards of tropical fruit and fish in the rivers and canals that criss-cross this fertile plain. Offering an ideal opportunity to adopt the pace of local life, choose to slow down and cycle along the flat roads of the Delta. You may also choose to visit a farmer’s home, try your hand at fruit picking or explore the myriad waterways on a loud one engine boat as used by locals for their daily transportation.

Located 2 hours from Ho Chi Minh City, My Tho is the gateway to the Delta and is ideal for those who are seeking a glimpse of agrarian river life. Traveling further south, you reach Cai Be, best known for its trading activities at the floating market and traditional craft villages. A 4-hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City, you reach Can Tho, the heartland of the Delta. Can Tho is famous for its floating market, the largest in the Delta, and its numerous fruit orchards.

Eighty percent of Vietnam's population lives in rural areas and no region provides a better glimpse into traditional country life than the Mekong Delta. Take a cruise through the delta's tiny canals in an open boat and you'll pass stunning tableaus of people hard at work in their paddy fields, water buffaloes, tangled fruit orchards, simple, thatched-roof huts, fishermen, and excited, waving children. In the delta's towns, the river remains the central focus of life, ferrying travelers and goods to market and linking the delta with the world beyond. Take a few days to explore the floating market in Can Tho, the islands around My Tho, and the hillside pagodas of Chau Doc.

Just a few hours from the bustle of Ho Chi Minh City, life in the Mekong Delta unfolds at its own, slow, steady pace. This is Vietnam's heartland, a place where time is still dictated by the river and the rice harvests.

The Mekong River runs through Yunnan (China), Cambodia, Laos, Myanmmar, Thailand, and Vietnam is the longest river in the southeastern Asia region. Deep in history and rich in culture, it's one of the last travel frontiers with stunning natural beauty and incredible cultural diversity. Some of its attractions include ancient monuments, royal capitals and UNESCO-desigated World Heritage sites such as Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Luang Prabang in Laos, signifying an illustrious past dating back thousands of years. Explore the Great Mekong River aboard the charming and authentic  Mekong River Cruise, Bassac Cruise,  a rafting experience or ferry. The cruises and tours below offer a variety of options on traveling on or along the Mekong River.

The History of Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta was likely inhabited long since prehistory; the empire of Funan and later Chenla maintained a presence in the Mekong Delta for centuries. Archaeological discoveries at Oc Eo and other Funan sites shows that the area was an important part of the Funan Kingdom, bustling with trading ports and canals as early as in the first century C.E. and extensive human settlement in the region may have gone back as far as the 4th century B.C.E.

The region was known as Khmer Krom (lower Khmer, or lower Cambodia) to the Khmer Empire, which likely maintained settlements there centuries before its rise in the 11th and 12th centuries. The kingdom of Champa, though mainly based along the coast of the East Sea, is known to have expanded west into the Mekong Delta, seizing control of Prey Nokor (the precursor to modern-day Ho Chi Minh City) by the end of the 13th century. Author Nghia M. Vo suggests that a Cham presence may indeed have existed in the area prior to Khmer occupation.

Beginning in the 1620s, Khmer king Chey Chettha II (1618-1628) allowed the Vietnamese to settle in the area, and to set up a custom house at Prey Nokor, which they colloquially referred to as Sài Gòn. The increasing waves of Vietnamese settlers which followed overwhelmed the Khmer kingdom—weakened as it was due to war with Thailand—and slowly Vietnamized the area. During the late 17th century, Mac Cuu, a Chinese anti-Qing general, began to expand Vietnamese and Chinese settlements deeper into Khmer lands, and in 1691, Prey Nokor was occupied by the Vietnamese.

Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyễn Lords of Huế by sea in 1698 to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the area. This act formally detached the Mekong Delta from Cambodia, placing the region firmly under Vietnamese administrative control. Cambodia was cut off from access to the East Sea, and trade through the area was possible only with Vietnamese permission.[2] During the Tay Son wars and the subsequent Nguyễn Dynasty, Vietnam's boundaries were pushed as far as the Cape of Ca Mau. In 1802, Nguyễn Ánh crowned himself emperor Gia Long and unified all the territories comprising modern Vietnam, including the Mekong Delta.

Upon the conclusion of the Cochinchina Campaign in the 1860s, the area became Cochinchina, France's first colony in Vietnam, and later, part of French Indochina. Beginning during the French colonial period, the French patrolled and fought on the waterways of the Mekong Delta region with their Divisions navales d'assaut (Dinassaut), a tactic which lasted throughout the First Indochina War, and was later employed by the US Navy Mobile Riverine Force. During the Vietnam War—also referred to as the Second Indochina War—the Delta region saw savage fighting between Viet Cong (NLF) guerrillas and units of the United States Navy's swift boats and hovercrafts (PACVs).

Following independence from France, the Mekong Delta was part of the Republic of Vietnam and eventually the country of Vietnam. In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge regime attacked Vietnam in an attempt to reconquer the Delta region. This campaign precipitated the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and subsequent downfall of the Khmer Rouge.

The Mekong Delta is the region in southern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea. It is a very rich and lush area, covered with rice fields, that produces about half of the total of Vietnam’s agricultural output. Subsequently, life in the Mekong Delta revolves much around the river, and all the villages are often accessible by river rather than by road. Colorful floating markets, fruit orchards, rice paddies, sugar cane groves, bird sanctuaries and quaint villages are all what draw many to the Mekong Delta in southwestern Vietnam. Nicknamed “Vietnam’s Rice Basket,” the Mekong Delta is an agricultural region made fertile by the maze of canals and streams fed by the Mekong River. Stretching from the Gulf of Thailand to Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta feeds more than a third of the country from its rich plantations, orchards, rice paddies and fish farms. The Mekong River travels over 3,000 miles on its way to the sea, where its journey terminates at Cuu Long, the famous Mekong Delta. The name means ‘nine dragons’ – the nine mouths that wend their way across the 62,160km of canals, channels, silt islets and mangrove swamps that comprise the delta. Believed to have formed over 6,000 years ago, it is one of the most productive rice-growing regions in the world.

With plenty of bus connections and motorbikes, tourists can explore the Mekong Delta and its towns like Tra Vinh, which is considered one of the prettiest villages of the delta. Many towns in the region provide shops, restaurants and hotels for travelers. Others places like Hon Chong, feature attractions like pictorial stone grottoes, while Ben Tre is dominated by fruit orchards, Sa Dec is rife with colorful flower farms, and Cao Lanh is a paradise for bird lovers. The beautiful island of Phu Quoc offers scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking and hiking. Just outside Chau Doc, Sam Mountain presents temples and lovely views. A river boat cruise in Vinh Long brings tourists to a floating market teeming in busy workers and fresh produce and fish.

The entire culture of the delta’s inhabitants revolves around the behaviour of the river. The myriad drainage channels wend their way around a vast patchwork of tiny islands, and dominate transport throughout the region: boats and barges crisscross the river in every direction. The annual floods inundate the delta with up to three metres of water for several months. Floating markets, colourful and vibrant, sustain the many riverside hamlets. Everything is connected to the mighty Mekong. The Mekong Delta buzzes with life, both human and natural: only in the remotest densely-packed mangrove areas are the narrow tributaries eerily quiet.

The main routes to the Mekong are by road or water. Fast boats travel between Ho Chi Minh City and the towns of Vinh Long, My Tho, and Can Tho: one of the hotels in Can Tho has a private service for its clients.

Most visitors travel by road. The first part of the journey is a long and tedious escape from the sprawling suburbs of Viet Nam's largest city, but becomes more interesting as the road passes My Tho and begins to cross the delta.

The Mekong Delta is the southern rice bowl of Vietnam. The Mekong River, one of the famous river of the world, is known to the Vietnamese as Song Cuu Long (River of the Nine Dragons). The Mekong originates high in the Tibetan plateau, flowing through China, between Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, along the Lao-Thai border and through Cambodia and Vietnam. The Mekong splits into two main branches in Phnom penh, the lower river cross Chau Doc, Long Xuen and Can Tho and flows to the sea, the upper river splits into several branches at Vinh Long and empties into the sea at six points. Half of the delta region is fully covered with rice fields. The region is dotted with small villages and towns and several large centres like Can Tho, My Tho, Rach Gia, Chau Doc and Ca Mau. There are many Khmer temples and relics dating from previous centuries. This is an area of endless paddy fields and mangrove swamps, small villages and communities and, along the coast, deserted beaches. Special features include Vinh Long with the most charming hotel in the Mekong Delta, Chau Doc and the temple hill, Ha Tien with the best beach in Vietnam and Soc Trang and Tra Vinh with their Khmer temples.

Venture south to the part of Vietnam they call the ‘Rice Basket’ and discover the idyllic Mekong Delta with its lush subtropical landscapes and the meet villagers, fishermen and farmers who live upon its banks. Just an few hours south from Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta is one of Vietnam’s most important regions. It’s where the majority of rice is grown, supplying 50% of the population along with being one of the country’s biggest exports. It’s also a fertile area for fish and shrimp farming, and cultivating sugarcane, coconuts and other fruits. Expansive, brilliant green paddies and orchards unfold before you as you slowly cruise weaving, calm waterways by narrow boat.

There is something distinctly warm and comforting about the Vietnamese from the south and this is never more evident than visiting the villages spotted along the canals. One can hop off at one of the many docks to taste the local produce and delicacies at local markets and restaurants. Perhaps the most popular attraction in the Mekong is the Floating Market, where vendors sell everything from fresh tropical fruit to traditional conical hats on the buoyed river rafts.

More adventures can be found away from the river. Appreciate the peace and quiet at Buddhist temples in the village of Soc Trang, spot the many species of birds at the Cham Trim National Park, or head to ‘Long beach’ for some sand and sun. The Mekong is a spectacular region with so much to offer and Luxury Travel can help take you there in style, while providing the expert guidance for your luxury tour.

BEN TRE
Sandwiched between two major branches of the Tien Giang River, Ben Tre is situated on a small island in the Mekong Delta known among other things for its fruit production, its tranquil atmosphere, and as the site of the first Viet Cong victory at the start of the Vietnam war. Once infamous as the village that had to be “destroyed in order to be saved” by American forces, the small town is now a wonderful place to experience the charms of the Mekong Delta. Today, Ben Tre is a tranquil, serene town, whose highlights include old villas, beautiful countryside, and a fascinating, teeming wet market.

Boat Cruise
For a chance to experience relatively untouched parts of Vietnam that few foreigners visit, board a private, covered cruising boat, stocked with cold, cloth towels, bottled water, fresh, seasonal fruits, and green tea. Relax as the boat makes its way downriver, and the only sounds to be heard are trees stirring in the breeze, buzzing cicadas, or oars dipping in the water from an occasional, passing sampan.

Bike Tour of Mo Cay
After your boat ride, bike to Mo Cay, the site of an excellent wet market. Here, local residents come to buy fresh fish, meat, and vegetables; also available, though admittedly much rarer, are specialties like rat, snake, and spiders, few of which find their way into a typical Vietnamese meal.
Afterwards, bike to a local guesthouse and eat a delicious lunch of traditional Vietnamese dishes served in a breezy pavilion overlooking the river.

Ben Tre High School for the Gifted
Come and visit with some talented Vietnamese youngsters and see what their school day is like. Talk with them and learn about their culture. Students harbor an optimistic and vibrant energy that will leave you with a strong impression of the local people and their future.

Coconut Festival
Held in April of each year, the Coconut Festival is a sort of showcase of Ben Tre’s agricultural sector. At the Festival, coconuts, coconut-related handicrafts are exhibited, judged, and rated. One special treat is the coconut candy, or keo dua, a soft, sticky, and chewy candy beloved by adults and children alike.

Ben Tre Museum
A collection of weaponry, photos, and propaganda from the Vietnam War (referred to as the American War by the Vietnamese), the Ben Tre Museum is housed in a nondescript structure, and is an excellent way to escape the heat or tropical rains. Recently, the museum received some donations in the form of nineteenth century pottery, thus expanding their collection.

Vien Minh Pagoda
While the original structure, built almost a century before, was demolished to make way for the more recent, stone and concrete temple, the Vien Minh Pagoda serves as the headquarters for the provincial Buddhist association. The pagoda also features a white statue of Quan Am, the female bodhisattva, or Buddhist saint, of mercy and compassion.

Tour the Surrounding Countryside
Hike or bike the surrounding countryside around Ben Tre, through jade-green rice fields, houses with thatched, straw roofs, and locals farming the land, much as their ancestors have done for generations. Speak with the locals, take pictures of the scenery, and enjoy a leisurely, pre-packed picnic lunch.

Geography
The Mekong Delta, as a region, lies immediately to the west of Ho Chi Minh City, roughly forming a triangle stretching from Mỹ Tho in the east to Châu Đốc and Hà Tiên in the northwest, down to Cà Mau and the South East Sea at the southernmost tip of Vietnam, and including the island of Phú Quốc. The Mekong Delta region of Vietnam displays a variety of physical landscapes, ranging from mountains and highlands to the north and west to broad, flat flood plains in the south. This diversity of terrain was largely the product of tectonic uplift and folding brought about by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates about 50 million years ago. The soil of the lower Delta consists mainly of sediment from the Mekong and its tributaries, deposited over millions of years as the river changed its course due to the flatness of the low-lying terrain.

Climate
Being a low-lying coastal region, the Mekong Delta is particularly susceptible to floods resulting from rises in sea level due to climate change. The Climate Change Research Institute at Can Tho University, in studying the possible consequences of climate change, has predicted that, besides suffering from drought brought on by seasonal decrease in rainfall, many provinces in the Mekong Delta will be flooded by the year 2030. The most serious cases are predicted to be the provinces of Ben Tre and Long An, of which 51% and 49%, respectively, are expected to be flooded if sea levels rise by 1 meter.